Sandy Spring Bancorp (SASR) in Olney, Md., reported higher earnings after it made more loans.
The $4.2 billion-asset company's first-quarter profit rose 3% from a year earlier, to $10.9 million. The improvement was largely because of loan growth, changes in funding costs and efforts to increase wealth management and insurance revenue, the company said.
Significantly lower volume of mortgage loan originations contributed to a 9% decrease in noninterest income.
Wealth management income rose 10% and insurance agency commissions jumped by 22%.
Nonperforming loans fell 28%, to $38.7 million. Sandy Spring recorded a $1 million credit to its loan-loss allowance.
